Parents, Apparently
by lilyevansJan30
Summary: During the summer before Harry's Fifth Year, two strange children appear at the Burrow. Why do they seem so comfortable with everyone? Originally written for the SIYE "Twin Travel" challenge.
1. Setting up Lily and James

A/N: Here's another old story from my SIYE days. This one was written for a challenge that involved having two strange children suddenly appear in the middle of Harry and Ginny's life. And yes, if you haven't figured it out yet, I'm heavily practicing writing avoidance by posting old stuff. But I do have 1200 words of the next chapter of Servant of Death finished, and about 2500 of Reversing Course, so updates will be coming. It's just slow going right now; I have a child graduating from high school in a few days and all the lead up to that is exhausting.

Did you get everything added, Harry?"

"I think so, did you?"

"Hopefully. And what about the others?"

"I'm sure Hermione covered everything important from her end, and made sure Ron did too. And I know your mum put in as many details as possible. As for what the rest of your family did, let's just hope there aren't any serious gaps."

"I guess we'll know soon enough."

"Are you going to watch now, or wait until the class?"

"Oh, I'm going to watch now. I can't wait to see this. You're not going to know what hit you, when those two get finished with you."

"Me? What about you? You're the youngest, remember? There's no way you're going to know what to do with them. You'll be pulling your hair out after an hour."

"That sounds like a bet, Mr. Potter."

"Why, yes, I think it is, Mrs. Potter. Same terms as always?"

"Oh, I think we should up the stakes a bit. Say, to two weeks?"

"Two weeks? Ginny, are you serio . . . well, yeah. Fine. Two weeks it is . . . and what a relaxing two weeks it's going to be for me, too."

"Don't bet on it, Harry. There is no way I'm going to lose this."

"I hate to tell you, Ginny, but it's totally out of your control. Remember what you were like the summer you turned 14? That's right before you started dating Corner, wasn't it?"

Silence.

"Is it too late to change the bet?"

"Yep. Now where's your mother?"

As if on cue, Mrs. Weasley appeared in the doorway of the Burrow's living room.

"I've just started Lily and James on a plate of chocolate biscuits. The more sugar, the better, you know. What are you holding there?"

Harry held up his Invisibility Cloak. "Ginny and I thought we would go with you and watch."

Mrs. Weasley frowned. "You can't talk, you know, or give them any indication you are there. There can be no interference for this to work right."

Harry smirked. "I think Lily and James are going to be interference enough."

Ginny looked concerned for a moment. "And you're sure it's safe?"

Harry put his hand on her arm reassuringly. "Perfectly. Even with the modifications, it's still a contained environment."

"Yeah, but, what if they get scared?"

"Those two? They're going to think it's a big adventure." Harry smirked. "Actually, I bet they don't even notice the difference."

Ginny punched him in the arm. "Are you saying I haven't changed at all since I was fourteen?"

"Probably not in the eyes of a six-year-old. And I think you are beautiful at any age."

"Oi. Nice try, Potter."

Ginny looked at her mum. "Do you think we need to, I don't know, coach them, a bit?"

Just then, a crash sounded from outside, near Mr. Weasley's shed. After a moment of silence, two childish voices started screaming at each other.

"Now look what you did, James! You broke it!"

"I wouldn't have broken it if you hadn't pushed me, Lily!"

The bickering continued as Mrs. Weasley looked thoughtfully out the window.

"No, I think they are going to be perfect, just the way they are. Now why don't both of you jump in ahead of me? I'll get Lily and James and send them along presently. I'll be Disillusioned, so I can stay in the background and take notes."

A moment later, Harry and Ginny had covered themselves in the Cloak and disappeared. Mrs. Weasley carefully picked up the large stone basin and carried it to the kitchen table, and then went to the door of the Burrow and called for Lily and James to come inside with the promise of a package of Chocolate Frogs each. They appeared in the door, looking guilty, biscuit crumbs around their faces, and still arguing with each other.

"Grandma! James broke Grandpa's vaclune sweeper!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Prove it! I don't think it ever worked anyway!"

"Well, now it never will because you busted it!"

"I did not!"

"Did too, did too, did too!"

"Lily, James," said Molly calmly, as if the two children were merely having a discussion about the weather. "I need you two to help me for a minute. The rest of the family is on their way for dinner and I haven't begun to get ready. I need you both to stay here in the kitchen and keep out of trouble while I collect eggs for tonight's custard. And please, whatever you do, don't touch your father's Pensieve." Molly gestured towards the stone bowl she had placed on the table. "It can be very dangerous if you don't understand how it works. I'll be back in a minute. Now, eat your Chocolate Frogs quickly, and I won't even tell your mum that you have already had sweets today."

Lily and James nodded at their grandmother, both ripping open their Frogs and, of course, fighting with each other over the cards. But Molly noticed James beginning to eye the Pensieve with interest even as he swiped his sister's Chocolate Frog and stuffed it in his mouth.

"Oi. I got another Harry Potter — I only have about a hundred of those already!"

"Oh James, I'll take it — I love the picture of Daddy. Hey, where's my Frog? It can't have hopped away!"

Smiling to herself, Molly left the house and waited just outside the door, listening. Presently she heard the sounds she had been waiting for:

"Don't James! Grandma said not to touch it! It's too dangerous!"

"Oh, don't be a fraidy cat, Lily. It won't do anything. You need to add those things from your head with a wand first. See, I can lean right over it and . . ."

"James! Come back! Where are you? James! I'm telling!"

Silence.

Walking back into the Burrow, Molly surveyed the now empty kitchen. Grabbing a roll of parchment and a quill, she quickly cast a Disillusionment Charm over herself and followed her grandchildren.


	2. Surprising the Weasleys

_Molly _appeared in a remarkably similar version of the Burrow's kitchen she had just left. A trained eye might notice subtle differences: fewer hands on the clock, different curtains at the window, the absence of certain photos that had been decorating the shelves. Nothing significant, though.

There was a slight movement by the sink: a cup seemed to move on its own several inches to the right. _Harry _and _Ginny _, under the Cloak. _Molly _herself moved to the far corner of the room by the stairs and watched Lily and James, who were standing in the middle of the floor glaring at each other.

"Now look what you did, James!"

"What do you mean? I didn't do anything!"

"You fell into Daddy's bowl!"

"Did not!"

"Did too! I saw you!"

"Well, nothing happened, we're still here, right?"

The sound of the twins fighting was not loud enough to be heard over the din of at least ten voices apparently engaged in some kind of celebration outside. Still Disillusioned, _Molly _quickly Apparated one foot to the left, purposely making as loud a pop as possible. In the yard, silence fell like a blanket.

In the kitchen, Lily and James started at the sound, looking around for the person that should have just appeared, but not seeing anyone. Just then, Lily screamed.

"James! Where's Daddy's bowl thing? It's gone! You made it disappear!"

"Wicked! I can do wandless magic!"

"Don't be daft, James. You must have broken it!"

"I didn't! I didn't break it! I barely touched it!"

"I'm telling! You're gonna get in trouble!"

Lily looked up at the faces that had begun cautiously appearing in the doorway of the Burrow.

"Grandpa! I didn't do it! James did! Grandma told us not to touch it but he wouldn't listen!"

Arthur, not the most talkative of the Weasleys on normal occasions, was stunned into silence at the sight and sound of two unfamiliar, and yet strangely familiar, children clamoring around him. He looked up as everyone who had been enjoying a Weasley family dinner outside crowded into the Burrow's kitchen to see what was going on: his wife, Ron, Harry and Hermione, just finished with their fourth year at Hogwarts, Ginny, just finished with her third, Fred and George, about to start their final year at school, Bill and his new girlfriend Fleur Delacour, Remus Lupin, and even Sirius, who had snuck out of Grimmauld Place for the evening. Most of the assembled group seemed too surprised to do anything but stare, but Lupin, Bill and Harry all looked at each other and slowly drew their wands, watching.

Mrs. Weasley had been staring the hardest at the two children, a look something between confusion, pride, maternal love, and a bit of horror on her face. Apparently it was too much, because she suddenly shook her head and fell over. It was probably a good thing she was temporarily unconscious, as what happened next was enough to have earned her a good fortnight in St. Mungo's.

"Daddy! James did it! Not me! He never listens and now he lost your bowl-thingy you put your brains in and Grandma told him not to touch it and he did anyway and plus he ate both our Chocolate Frogs and then he didn't want your card and it's all his fault!"

The beautiful little red-head with bright green eyes said this all very fast while running up to Harry and throwing her arms around his waist, looking up at him anxiously.

Almost simultaneously, the little boy started jumping up and down and screaming himself.

"I didn't do it! I swear! I didn't do it! It's her fault, she pushed me outside and made me break Grandpa's valcumme swiper and then she took the last chocolate biscuit and wouldn't give me the extra Frog and I did listen to Grandma, I did, I did, I did!" He looked wildly at the assembled group and ran up to Ginny.

"Mum! She started it! Really she did! And . . . and look! You told her not to wear her white pinnie and she did anyway and now it has chocolate all over it! Remember? Mum?"

BANG!

A sound like a small bomb went off in the kitchen and both children were suddenly silenced. Black ropes snaked out of Lupin's wand, wrapping firmly around the girl and the boy so they could not move.

_Under the Invisibility Cloak, Ginny gasped _.

"_Harry, what is he doing? They aren't supposed to be hurt!" _

_Harry grabbed Ginny's arm to keep her still._

"_Shhh . I'm sure it's fine. Give them a second." _

Behind Lupin, Bill had his own wand trained firmly on the two children, who were apparently still yelling, but without making a sound. They didn't look particularly scared.

Molly had been revived and now turned on Lupin. "Remus! What did you do to those poor children?"

Remus looked serious. "We can't be sure they _are _children, Molly. They could be Death Eaters in disguise."

Harry, his wand dangling in his hand, finally seemed to get over his shock enough to choke out, "One . . . one of them called me dad! I'm not a dad!" He looked at Ginny, as if seeing her for the first time. "And she's not a mum!"

_Under the cloak, Ginny smirked. "Real quick on the uptake, aren't you Potter?" _

"_Hush !" whispered Harry. "I don't see you saying anything at all." _

Arthur had found his voice as well. "I really can't see the Death Eaters sending two children to do their dirty work. They don't even seem to have wands." He pointed his own at the pair and said "Expelliarmus," but nothing happened. "See? Unarmed." He turned to Lupin. "I think it's safe to let them go so we can ask who they are."

"Just a second," muttered Lupin. He pointed his wand again. "Accio Portkeys!"

Again, nothing happened.

"Well, I guess they aren't planning a quick escape either." He flicked his wand to raise the silencing spell.

". . . and Mummy promised to take me to see the Harpies and now she probably won't and it's all your fault James!"

"Is not! It was an accident!"

The two children had apparently continued their argument through the silencing spell. They didn't even seem to notice that they were still bound, and after another second, Lupin shrugged and banished the ropes.

"Okay, you two," he said loudly, when no one else seemed to know what to say. "We have some questions for you both."

The children finally looked up at the assembled crowd staring silently at them. Almost as one, they both launched back into their accusations of each other, whining, and cajoling, but after a second, James stopped in surprise, cocking his head at two identical faces in the corner.

"Uncle George!" he cried. "Why are there two of you?"

_Under the cloak, Harry swore. "I didn't think of that!" _

George was confused. "What do you mean, two of me? This is Fred."

James and Lily's eyes grew wide. "You're a ghost!"

Now Fred was confused. "What do you mean, I'm a ghost?" He turned to his brother. "How far have we gotten on those daydream charms?"

"Not this far," answered George.

"Wait!" yelled Hermione, breaking into the fray. "Stop! Don't say anything else! Don't you get it?"

_Ginny snorted . "We should have guessed she would figure it out first. If it wasn't for her, this group would be here all night, treating our kids like junior Death Eaters." _

"No, Hermione, we obviously don't get it," said Ron rather peevishly. "Let me guess, though. There's something written about the sudden appearance of twitchy midgets in Hogwarts, A History."

"_Who added that part?" whispered Harry. "I don't remember Ron being that obnoxious unless she provoked him."_

"_I think it was Hermione," Ginny whispered back. "She was rather upset with him last week about that whole painting their bedroom fiasco." _

"No, Ronald. Honestly." Hermione looked at the children. "Professor Lupin, can you set a spell so they can't hear what we are saying?"

Lupin waved his wand at a plate of cookies sitting on the counter so that it floated over to the table in front of Lily and James. The two grinned and dove right in, not even seeming to notice the buzzing sound that suddenly filled their ears.

Lupin smiled apologetically. "I figured I would give them something to do. Now, why don't you tell everyone what's going on, Hermione?" He gave her a pointed look that said he had already figured it out.

"Okay. I think . . . no, I'm almost positive, that those two children have arrived here by traveling from some time in the future." She took a deep breath. "And, I think they actually might be Harry and Ginny's children." She looked at both of them, a somewhat hesitant look on her face.

"What?! " Both Harry and Ginny yelled simultaneously.

"All right, Harry! Good job!" cried Sirius, as Lupin gave him a look.

"It can't . . . they can't . .. I swear I didn't . . ." Harry was looking wildly around, first at the children, then at Ginny, and then at her brothers and father.

"Mr. Weasley . . . Bill, Fred, George, you've got to believe me. I swear, I never touched her. Really!" He turned to Ron. "Ron, I promise, I didn't do anything! She's just a kid — she's like my little sister, really!"

"Hey!" Ginny had finally found her voice. "I am **not **a kid, I'm only a year younger than you, Harry! And no one's saying we've done anything _now _. I think what Hermione means is that eventually, in the future, you and I . . ."

The implications of what she was stating must have finally hit her because Ginny suddenly trailed off and looked at Harry with a horrified expression, her face turning beet red. It had been a couple of years since her crush on him had sent her flying out of the room whenever Harry spoke to her, but obviously the thought of being intimate enough with him to produce children was still quite embarrassing.

"What are we going to do?" Ron spoke urgently. "I mean, can't time travel totally mess up things in the future?"

"Exactly," said Hermione tersely. "Their being here could interfere with their own existence, not to mention telling us things about our futures that we are not meant to know."

"And they are too young to know how to keep their mouths shut," interrupted Molly. "The little dears. Oh Ginny, she looks just like you! With Harry's eyes! And he is just a perfect miniature Harry!" Another minute and it was clear she was going to swoop down on her future grandchildren and start hugging.

"Not helping, Mum!" said Ginny through tight lips. "Can't we keep them out of the way until we figure out how to send them back? You know, before they say anything they shouldn't."

"They've said things already," said Harry quietly. "Did you hear? Something about my Chocolate Frog card and Fred being a ghost."

Silence, as everyone tried very hard not to look at Fred.

He broke the tension himself. "Well then, you definitely know what this means, don't you?" He waggled his eyebrows at George and then the rest of the family. "I need to make a will and go find a girl to snog!" He grinned and bounded up the stairs to his room, talking under his breath. "I wonder what Angelina's doing this summer? . . ."

"Better go help him," George muttered. As he mounted the stairs, he turned back for a moment. "I . . . I know you can't ask them too much, but . . . if there's a way to find out . . . when, well, you know . . ." He didn't say anything else, but disappeared after his brother.

"_Fred seems awfully content about his upcoming demise, don't you think?" asked Harry. _

"_George put in memories for both of them. I think that's how he likes to remember Fred, you know?" _

_Harry squeezed Ginny's hand. "I do know. Now let's hope they figure out what to do with the kids soon. I want to win my bet and get out of here." _

"_In your dreams, Potter."_

"_Well, yes, we kind of are." _

Lupin was speaking again. " . . . something about a 'bowl-thingy', did anyone else hear that?"

"I did," said Harry. "The girl said something about her dad . .." Harry swallowed hard. "I mean, me, I guess, putting his brains in it . . . Do you think she meant a Pensieve?"

"A what?" Ron and Hermione both looked confused, but the adults were all nodding.

"A place to store memories," explained Sirius. "You can remove them temporarily from your head and put them in the Pensieve — a magical stone basin— to review, or to show others." He shook his head at Lupin. "They can't be talking about a Pensieve. Viewers can't interact with the memories, only observe them."

"Maybe not now, but it could be possible in the future." George and Fred had reappeared at the bottom of the stairs, both looking serious, but rather interested in the discussion.

"It's similar in theory to a product . . . I mean, an experiment of ours," said Fred. "We're working on creating an interactive daydream spell — pick the scene and say the incantation and you will enter a 'top-quality, highly realistic, thirty-minute daydream, easy to fit into the average student school lesson and virtually undetectable.'" Fred's voice had taken on an announcer-like quality and Molly looked at him and George suspiciously. They smiled back at her, the picture of innocence.

"Exactly," said George, picking up the thread of his twin's speech. "It shouldn't be much more difficult to incorporate real memories with the interactive charm. The applications could be quite interesting, don't you think?" He looked quizzically at Fred, who gave him a thoughtful nod.

"_George really was quite brilliant to figure all that out on his own after Fred died, " whispered Harry. "Even if it did take him over ten years." _

"_It would have definitely been quicker with Fred to help," agreed Ginny. "But I think working on it went along way towards helping him recover."_

"So, if the kids did get here through a Pensieve, does that mean we are all just someone's memories?" Ginny asked, frowning a bit.

"It would seem so," said Lupin. "Although, given the modifications that would have to have been made to the Pensieve, I can't say for certain. And it's certainly hard to believe from this end. I mean, I think we all _feel _pretty real. The question is, who let a couple of young children get inside a memory-filled Pensieve in the first place? It seems kind of irresponsible to me."

_Under the cloak, Harry had to put his hand over Ginny's mouth _.

"Hmmph," said Molly. "No one **let **them into the Pensieve." She looked pointedly at everyone in the room. "If what you are all saying is true, then those two adorable children are half-Weasley. And, if I'm not mistaken, they are half-Weasley _twins _. Obviously, they found their way into the Pensieve themselves. I would expect nothing less from a couple of **my **grandchildren." She looked at Harry and Ginny and smiled. "I'm sure you are both doing the best you can with them."

Harry looked horrified. Ginny groaned. "Mum!"

"So how long do you think they're stuck here?" Ron asked.

"As long as the memory lasts, I suppose," replied Lupin. "And we have no idea how long that will be."

"Well then, it's clear what we have to do," said Molly briskly. "Take off the charm, Remus. They've just about finished the cookies and will be looking for their parents soon. That means you two," she said, nodding at Harry and Ginny.

"What?"

"I think that's right," said Hermione suddenly. It was clear that she had been thinking about the problem ever since the Pensieve had been explained to her. "They can't hurt the future because we are all just memories of things that have already happened. But we can't let them know that, it could upset them, or even have long-lasting emotional consequences for when they return to their time."

_Harry snorted. "Not likely," he muttered to Ginny. "If only they knew that these are the same twins that got hold of some Floo powder and managed to get themselves to half the stores in Diagon Alley before they were found, no one would be so concerned about any 'long-lasting emotional consequences.' I would be more worried about the twins' effect on the rest of them — and they're only memories."_

"_That's the point of this, remember?" said Ginny. "Let's see how much they can act up."_

"So, what exactly does this mean for me and Ginny?" Harry was clearly trying to get his head around everything.

"It means you have to pretend to be their parents," said Lupin.

"Convincingly," added Hermione.

"Lovingly," inserted Molly.

"Firmly," stated Fred.

"Authoritatively," nodded George.

"This, I've got to see," smirked Ron. "Ouch, Hermione, that was my foot!"

Harry closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them, they found Ginny, who looked as nervous as he did. She shrugged at him. "What choice do we have? It's not like we're going to remember this anyway."

"No," said Harry. "But they will. And I guess some older selves of us will too." They stared at each other for a long minute. The unspoken lay between them: their future.


	3. Engaging Harry and Ginny

Parents 3

Remus lifted the silencing spell over the children just as they finished the plate of cookies.

"They seem to have your appetite, Ron," commented Molly. "I had enough cookies for everyone there."

_Harry and Ginny exchanged a glance. _

"Uh, so . . . uh, James," stammered Harry. "Why don't you and . .." he stopped, horrified to realize he was going to blow his cover in the first minute. He had no idea of the little girl's name.

Ginny's eyes opened wide as she realized the problem. She bit her lip for a moment, thinking, and then took a deep breath, letting out a cough that sounded like "Lily?" The little girl looked up at her. "Yes Mummy?" Ginny gave Harry a triumphant look.

"Mum?" Lily was still looking at Ginny.

"Umm, well, yes. Like your . . . father said . . . umm, I think you both need to tell us what happened with the Pensieve."

It was like a dam broke. Both children crowded around Harry and Ginny, jumping up and down, fighting to be the first to talk.

"I _told _you already," said Lily, sounding remarkably like Ginny when she was annoyed, or _Ginny _when she didn't think _Harry _was listening. "Grandma went out to get eggs for custard and told us not to touch the Pen-seeve, and James did anyway. And then it disappeared!"

"It was an accident!" bellowed James. He looked at Harry. "You'll find it, won't you, Daddy?"

Harry started at the name. He looked down at James and forced a smile on his face, patting the boy on his back perhaps a little too forcefully. "Sure we will. I promise. Why, I bet it turns up on its own, right here. Soon." He looked over at Ginny. "Very soon."

"Well, now that we've gotten all of that sorted out, why don't we go back outside and finish supper?" said Molly. "I just need to put together a little bit more dessert and I'll join you."

"Give me a piggy-back ride, Daddy!" Lily was jumping up and down in front of Harry.

"No, me!" shouted James. "You gave her one last time. It's my turn!"

"How about I give Lily a piggy-back ride and Harry, I mean, Daddy, gives James one," proposed Ginny.

"But I thought you couldn't give piggy-back rides because of the baby," said Lily, with a confused look on her face.

Both Harry and Ginny stopped. In the doorway, Fred and George turned back to listen as well, identical wicked looks on their faces.

"You know," said Lily, "the baby in your tummy that's coming after Christmas." She smiled sweetly at Ginny. "So James and I can have another brother or sister."

"Maybe it's another set of twins!" crowed George.

"Maybe even triplets!" said Fred. "I don't know, Ginny, you do seem to have been putting on a bit of weight, lately."

"Sod off," said Harry. "She looks fine." As Fred and George started making wolf whistles, Harry turned bright red. Without another word, he scooped James onto his back and carried him outside.

"_Way to show my brothers, Harry. I look fine?" _

"_Give me a break. I had barely realized you were a girl that summer, and suddenly I learn I have produced a couple of kids with you, with another on the way — what did you expect me to say?" _

Outside, Harry was trying to get used to the fact that he was apparently not allowed to sit alone in his seat; James had crawled onto his lap and showed no signs of moving as he reached across the table to snag a piece of the cake Molly had brought out. Crumbs showered Harry as James wiggled in his lap, seemingly unable to sit still.

"Hey daddy?"

"Daddy?"

A small finger poked Harry's chest. Hot breath yelled in his face. "DADDY!"

Harry jumped. "Oh, uh, what is it, James?"

"Can we go fly on your broom later?"

For the first time, Harry focused fully on the small boy in his lap. "You like to fly?"

James giggled. "Of course I do! I'm going to be Gryffindor Seeker, just like you."

"And I'm going to be a Gryffindor Chaser and play for the Harpies like mum!" Ginny and Lily had appeared outside, Lily clinging so tightly to Ginny's leg that she could only move forward by carrying Lily along with her, like an extra limb.

"Ginny's going to play for the Harpies? Are you serious?" Harry stared at the little girl, and then at Ginny, as if he couldn't decide if they were joking. But Ginny looked just as surprised as Harry, although a flicker of excitement crossed her face as well.

"I'm not Sirius, I'm Lily!" she crowed with glee, while across the table, Sirius spit out the Firewhisky he had just put in his mouth.

_Under the cloak, both Ginny and Harry let out snorts of laughter. Luckily the rest of the table was too busy laughing to have heard. "I guess she does pay attention to us some of the time," giggled Ginny. _

"_Yeah, but let's hope no one tells her that Sirius is actually sitting right across the table from her," said Harry. _

"Who told you that joke?" Sirius asked, gasping for air.

"Daddy says it all the time," said Lily, looking back at Harry for confirmation. "Sirius was his godfather. He died," she finished, with childlike bluntness.

"He did? When? No, no, I don't want to know." Sirius took another big drink of Firewhisky and looked at his godson. "So, you're a dad! Guess I didn't do such a great job of fulfilling my duties to teach you about the facts of life, huh?"

"Oh, I don't know," said Harry, suddenly giving Sirius a wicked grin. "Maybe you taught me too well." He smiled at Ginny and shrugged. This was all so weird, there was nothing to do but go with the flow at this point. She smiled weakly back and continued on around the table, Lily still in tow.

James began babbling at Harry about Quidditch, a subject Harry was more than relieved to move on to. Here was something he had in common with the boy, and something they could discuss without Harry's having to act _parental _or anything.

They were just going over the finer points of the match Harry had played for Gryffindor his second year, where an enchanted Bludger had broken his arm (James apparently was quite familiar with the tale and recited a description of each of Harry's moves better than Harry remembered himself), when Lily, sitting on Ginny's lap at the other end of the table, looked up from where she was braiding Ginny's hair and yelled "Hey!"

Conversation stopped as everyone looked at her. "What?" asked Ginny.

"Why aren't you sitting next to Daddy like you always do? Are you in a fight?"

"Um, no. D-d-daddy and I are fine, thanks."

"Well then, come on!" Lily was surprisingly strong for such a small girl as she pulled Ginny out of her chair and dragged around the table to where Harry and James were sitting.

"Now, sit!" she commanded, pushing Ginny into a chair.

"And hold hands too!" added James, picking up on his sister's theme.

Ginny and Harry both turned red, but cowed under the twin stern gazes of James and Lily.

"_Go Harry, go Ginny," Harry chanted, while Ginny elbowed him to be quiet. "I want to see what they do." _

Looking at anything but her, Harry took Ginny's hand. Actually, he sort of took her last two fingers, holding them as if they were burning twigs, or a beaker of acid.

"Sorry," he mumbled, and, taking a deep breath, held her hand more firmly.

"S'okay," Ginny said. A second later she giggled quietly to him. "If only I'd known when I was ten that all I had to do to get you to hold my hand was bring our kids here from the future, I'd have built the Pensieve myself."

Her statement broke the tension. Harry let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding, and, almost involuntarily, squeezed Ginny's hand. She looked at him, surprised, and seemed about to say something when Lily and James suddenly burst into song.

"Mummy and Daddy, flying by a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G. First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes the twins in a baby carriage!"

The entire table dissolved again into laughter as James and Lily began yelling out "Kiss! Kiss! We want to see you kiss!"

Ginny's earlier bravado seemed to fade as the twins chanted, soon to by joined by Fred and George, who were unhelpfully yelling things like "pucker up, now!" and "Don't be a minx, Ginny -let's see some action!". She glared at her brothers while trying to subtly hush Lily and James, to no effect.

"_Oh, good," said Ginny. "They're getting wound up." She nudged Harry. "It'll be kind of weird, watching ourselves snogging. Do you think we'll actually do it?" _

"_In another minute, we're not going to have a choice. You know the only thing that will get the twins to stop yelling for us to kiss is . . ." _

"Who wants to go for a fly?" yelled Harry desperately.

" _. . . That," finished Harry, a bit of disappointment in his voice." _

"_Sorry you don't get to watch your fifteen-year-old self have a bit of a snog with a pretty girl?" Ginny teased. _

"_Not when I have a pretty girl to kiss right here," said Harry, kissing her, and then smirking. "No, I was just thinking that you were about to run screaming into the house to avoid having to kiss me and I was going to win the bet." _

"_Not on your life, Potter. Look— I seem to be doing just fine now, although I'm sure part of me is disappointed that you didn't actually lay one on me." _

Sure enough, Harry's suggestion of going flying was met with wild enthusiasm by Lily and James. They tugged Harry and Ginny out of their seats yelling excitedly about how high they wanted to go and who could fly fastest. James grabbed another piece of cake and began shoving it in his mouth with one hand even as he put his other, quite sticky hand in Harry's.

"I call Daddy's broom first!" yelled Lily, catching Harry by surprise by running up to Harry and grabbing him around the waist so that he almost fell over.

"Mum and I'll beat you by a million!" countered James quickly, letting go of Harry and running over to Ginny.

"Wanna bet?"

"Yeah! Let's bet like Mum and Daddy always do!" He frowned then. "What's a bet?"

"Nothing," said Harry quickly, looking quizzically at Ginny. "I wonder what we bet about?" he whispered to her as they walked towards the broom shed, the twins running ahead of them.

"No idea," she replied, and then grinned. "But we must be fun in our old age." She looked thoughtful for a second. "I wonder how old we are, anyway? I mean, I imagine a lot of time has to go by for us to get to the point where we are married and have kids. We _are _married, right?"

"Harry smirked. "If we had twins and weren't married, I'm sure that instead of talking about Mum and Dad, Lily and James would be talking about Mum and the bloke Grandma keeps locked in the cellar." He suddenly thought of something, and was quiet for a minute, thinking.

"What is it, Harry?"

"It's just, their being here. I guess it means I defeated Voldemort."

"Oh," said Ginny. "Yes, I guess it does. I wonder when."

"I wonder _how _. It'd be nice to be able to ask them, just to satisfy my curiosity."

"That would look kind of suspicious, don't you think?" Ginny said. "I mean, can you imagine? 'Excuse me, kids, do either of you happen to know how I vanquished the Dark Lord?'"

Harry chuckled. "Yeah, I guess you're right. I suppose it doesn't matter that much, since obviously, I figured out some way to do it."

_Harry and Ginny had followed their younger selves as they walked down the path. "Harry, at the end of the memory, do you think we can tell them?" Ginny asked. _

"_I don't see why not. Do you think your mum would mind? After all, this is her party." He looked around. "Where is she, anyway?" _

"_Prob ably right behind us. Her Disillusionment spells are really good — if they hadn't been, Fred and George would've probably gotten away with even more than they did, growing up." _

_But Molly did not make her presence known and Harry and Ginny forgot about her in their interest in watching their younger selves interact with their children._

Harry and Ginny's next bit of difficulty came when they got to the broom shed and pulled out Harry's Firebolt and Fred's Cleansweep Five, as Ginny did not have a broom of her own.

"No! We want to ride your brooms! Where's your DemonFlyer, Daddy?"

"Yeah," said James. "And where's your Gemini, Mum? We'll never beat Daddy and Lily on _that _." He looked disdainfully at the broom Ginny was holding.

"Umm, well, we left them at home," said Ginny. "These will have to do."

"I should have picked to fly with Daddy," James groused, but climbed on the broom in front of Ginny.

Flying with the twins turned out to be a wonderful idea.

They whooped with delight as Harry and Ginny swooped up and down over the orchard, each trying to get low enough for one of the twins to grab an apple off the tree as they zoomed past.

Harry found himself totally relaxed for the first time since the bizarre evening had begun. He almost forgot that it was his _daughter _he was carefully holding as they flew over the trees, Harry flying more and more crazily just to hear her giggle. Flying always did that to him, allowed him to forget his cares and worries, if only for a little while, and without being totally conscious of it, he was pleased that his future children seemed to feel the same way.

And Ginny. In all honesty, Harry had not thought about her in depth before now. She was Ron's little sister, generally fun to be around, and someone he supposed he considered a friend. Actually, now that he thought about it, he definitely considered her a friend, just not one he had ever specifically sought out before. But watching her flying over his head, James whooping with glee, Harry realized that a lot of his best memories with the Weasleys included Ginny. Now that she had gotten over her little girl infatuation with him, she was easy to hang out with in a way that many other girls were not. She didn't make him nervous, like Cho, or annoyed, like being around Lavender or Parvati for too long, could. And while he didn't put her in the same category as Hermione in terms of friendship, he could already see that she might have certain qualities that would surpass even that relationship. She loved Quidditch, for one. She never bugged him to study, for another.

And, Harry realized suddenly, she was quite pretty.

_Ginny was watching as the younger Harry flew lower, closer to where Ginny was making figure eights in the air. She smirked and poked Harry. "By the fascinated look on your alter-ego's face, I think you just figured out I'm a girl." _

_Harry watched himself as he pulled up his broom next to Ginny and said something to her, a strangely goofy expression on his face, making her blush._

_"I think you're right." He frowned at the figures in the air. "That's what I look like when I fancy a girl? No wonder Cho wouldn't go with me to the Yule Ball. What did you see in me, anyway?" _

"_Nothing", said Ginny with a wicked grin. "You grabbed me in front of fifty people and snogged my brains out. I just didn't want to damage your fragile male ego by rejecting you."_

"_Prat." _

In the air next to Ginny, Harry was stuttering a bit with his new realization, as well as the fact that he suspected it was time to end their flight. It had become quite dark, and even Harry knew that it was probably time for the twins to go to bed, assuming the memory lasted that long.

Although Lily and James put up a half-hearted protest when Ginny said it was time to come down, they were obviously tired, and quieter than they had been since they had first appeared. Harry and Ginny locked the brooms in the shed and walked slowly back towards the rest of the family. Harry expected to see dishes floating through the air as everyone joined in a Molly-directed clean-up, but, inexplicably, was still sitting at one end of the table next to her husband, a look of concentration on her face. She was also nodding occasionally. Everyone else was quietly talking and taking no notice of the sight.

"_Aha!" said Ginny. "I think my mum has gotten a hold of, well, my mum." She looked at Harry. "Can you see the disturbance in the air behind her? I think she is telling her what is going on." _

"_Probably warning her not to interfere with bedtime," agreed Harry._

Indeed, as Harry and Ginny appeared in the clearing, Molly stood up suddenly and looked at everyone at the table. "I need help clearing the table," she announced. "And since Harry and Ginny have to put the twins to bed . . ," at this statement, she looked pointedly at them, "I think it would be best to stack and rinse the plates out here, using an Augamenti spell, so we don't make too much noise in the kitchen.

"_Yep, clearly your mum's doing. Looks like it's all up to us to get the twins to sleep. Well, up to that Harry and Ginny." He took Ginny's arm. "Shall we go watch?" _

"_Defi nitely," said Ginny. "I still have that bet to win." _

"Come on, kids, inside now," said Harry, feeling strangely comfortable with his new role as authority figure.

"It makes me think of my dad," said Harry quietly to Ginny as he scooped up James and she put Lily on her back.

"Acting like a parent yourself, you mean," Ginny nodded at him.

"Yeah. It's not something I've really thought of before. I've always focused on the fact that they're not here, not on what it was like for them when they were around, you know, taking care of me. Now, with all this," said Harry, gesturing at James, who was cuddled against his shoulder, "I can imagine it somehow."

_Under the Cloak, Harry took Ginny's hand. "That's exactly how I felt when they were born," he said softly. Ginny didn't reply, just put her hand on his cheek and smiled. _

"It's a powerful feeling," said Ginny,. "one I never could've imagined before. I've only known them a couple of hours, but knowing that they're mine . . . ours . . . or will be, I don't know. I think I love them already, somehow."

Harry smiled. "Yeah. Knowing that I'm going to love them someday, it makes me love them now. I mean, why wait?"

Harry and Ginny were grinning at each other kind of stupidly, the absurdity of the situation catching up with them, and they were both chuckling as they entered the Burrow's kitchen and headed towards the stairs.

"Daddy?" Harry had thought James had fallen asleep.

"Yes kiddo?" The endearment rolled off his tongue surprisingly easily.

"I don't feel so good."

_Harry and Ginny exchanged a look. "I knew I should have tried to stop him from eating that last piece of cake!" Ginny muttered, "on top of the biscuits and Chocolate Frogs and an entire plate of my mother's cookies." _

"_I think that would have counted as 'interference,'" replied Harry. "But let's stay close."_

Ginny put her hand on James' cheek. "What's wrong, honey?"

"My tummy feels yucky."

Harry and Ginny exchanged a look. "I should have stopped him from eating that last piece of cake!" Ginny said. "And didn't they mention having biscuits and Chocolate Frogs before they got here? Not to mention an entire plate of my mother's cookies."

"Too late now," said Harry. "But stay close."

"Why don't we go upstairs and lay down in bed. Won't that feel good, James?" Ginny was somehow managing to gently rub his back while still balancing Lily on her own.

"I don't know." James had gotten quite pale.

"Ginny, I think I should take him to the loo," Harry said, moving quickly in that direction. He didn't like the look on the boy's face at all.

It was too late. With an almighty belch, James threw up all over Harry and promptly burst into tears. Lily looked over at her brother and began crying as well.

_Harry and Ginny stared at the scene, and then each other, both wanting more than anything to comfort their children. "Harry, I have to go to them!" Ginny wailed._

_Harry was feeling the pull of his son and daughter as well, but managed to hold back his wife long enough to watch their younger selves confront their crisis. "Look, I think they're doing alright," he said. _

Harry was rather shocked that getting vomited on had not made him lose his own dinner. He guessed it was because he was too focused on trying to make James feel better and comfort Lily, who was crying nearly as hard as he was.

Ginny cast a couple of cleansing charms over them and opened her arms to James, who crawled into them. She shrugged apologetically at Harry. "There's just something about your mum when you don't feel good," she explained.

Harry didn't disagree. He picked up Lily and held her gently. "Look, honey, James is better already. Aren't you, buddy?"

James raised his tearstained face. "Yeah. I feel better."

"Good," said Harry. "Throwing up makes me feel better too."

"That's what you _always _say, Daddy," said Lily.

"I do?" Harry didn't know what to think.

"I think that bed is in order now," said Ginny firmly.

In short order, Harry and Ginny helped the twins wash their faces and brush their teeth, tucking them both into the bed in Ginny's room, which Harry carefully expanded first. It felt almost natural to brush the hair back from their faces and kiss them each carefully goodnight. Both children were so drowsy that they could barely mumble "goodnight" back to Harry and Ginny, but Lily managed a sleepy "love you" that made Harry's breath catch in his throat, and James grabbed his hand as it brushed by his cheek and held on for a moment, before sleep overtook him.

Harry and Ginny stood looking down at the twins for a moment.

"Do you think they'll be here in the morning?" asked Ginny.

"I don't think so," said Harry, looking around. "We're getting close to the end, I think." Indeed, certain aspects of the room seemed fuzzier than when they had first entered it. "I'm going to miss them." He shook his head. "I mean, I would miss them if I was still going to be around after they are gone. But I guess when they go, we go too."

"Yeah, said Ginny. "I can't picture it, though." She frowned. "How exactly do they get back?"

"_We'll take them." Harry threw off the Invisibility Cloak and revealed himself and Ginny to their younger forms. _

Harry and Ginny, quite appropriately, were shocked. "How long have you been here?" asked Ginny.

"_The whole time," said Ginny. "We could watch, but not interfere." _

Harry opened his mouth and then closed it again, a thousand questions running through his mind. He tried again. "So . . . it really does happen, then? Ginny and me, I mean. And Lily and James."

_"It does." Harry smiled. "Not as soon as you would like, though. You . . . well, we, are a bit thick about her," he said, tilting his head at Ginny. _

Ginny was looking at her older self in fascination. "Wow." She blushed a bit, and muttered, "Glad to know I finally fill out."

_Ginny grinned. "Well, part of that's the pregnancy, but yeah, you do." _

"She looks pretty good now, I think," said Harry, with only a hint of a blush this time.

"_That 's a step up from 'fine,'" said Ginny approvingly. _

"They're great kids," said Harry suddenly. He knew he didn't have much more time. "It's too bad this is it. For me and Ginny, I mean. At least for a while." He looked at Ginny. "I'm sorry I'm going to be so thick about everything."

"Me too, I think. But I'm glad it all works out in the end."

"_That it does," said Harry, nodding. _

"_Bett er than you could ever imagine," agreed Ginny, going over to the bed and carefully lifting Lily into her arms._

"_Are you okay with her, Hon?" Harry had picked up the sleeping James and was studying his wife._

"_I'm fine." Ginny smiled at _Harry and Ginny, noticing their clasped hands as they watched their older selves. "_You were wonderful with them, you know. As good as Harry and I would have been. You're going to be great parents."_

"We _are _great parents," said Ginny, looking at the woman she was going to become. Harry squeezed her hand.

"_Too bad this isn't real, huh?" _

"Yeah," said Harry. "Too bad." He looked at them for a second. "Hey, there's something I wanted to ask you, about how I defeat . . ."

The room suddenly swirled around them all, and then went black.


	4. Messing with Molly

Parents 4

Seconds later, Harry and Ginny appeared back in the kitchen of the Burrow, each carrying the sleeping form of one of their children. They smiled each other in the dim light; it was apparently quite late.

"Feels good to hold them again," said Harry, pressing a soft kiss on James' sweaty forehead.

"Ummhmm," agreed Ginny, smiling down at her daughter, almost a perfect miniature of her mother, particularly with her eyes closed.

"I'm glad James is feeling better. He certainly got the other me good, back there."

"He certainly did," Ginny said. "And if I'm not mistaken, your younger self handled it a lot better than you did, the first time Lily got sick all over your lap."

"Yeah, that was rather disgusting, if I remember correctly."

Harry was quiet for a second.

"What is it, Harry?"

"I just, feel a little sorry for them — our younger selves, I mean. I almost think, given the chance, that that Harry and Ginny might have started dating each other years earlier — I mean, you and I would have started dating earlier. You know?"

"I think I do. You needed something to help make you see me in a different light," mused Ginny.

"Something other than watching you snog Dean Thomas," said Harry wryly.

"Prat."

"Where do you think your mother is?" asked Harry.

"Oh probably having a nice cup of tea with her other self or something. I'm sure she'll be here soon."

"I wonder what she's going to say," said Harry.

"If I know my mum, quite a lot. Let's get these two to bed before she gets back."

Harry and Ginny carried Lily and James up to Ginny's room, where the same magically expanded bed awaited them. As Ginny bent down to tuck Lily under the covers, the little girl woke a bit and smiled drowsily at her mother.

"I'm glad you're back, Mummy."

Harry and Ginny looked at each other in surprise. Neither Lily nor James had given any indication while in the Pensieve that they did not believe the younger Harry and Ginny were their parents.

"What do you mean, I'm back, honey? I never left."

"You had sharper bones, before. Now you're nice and soft again."

Harry smiled at Ginny. "I like you nice and soft too."

Ginny swatted his arm. "Again, you're a prat, you know that?"

"But I'm your prat."

"That you are. Let's let these two sleep and go find my mum."

As Harry and Ginny walked back into the kitchen, the air around the Pensieve shivered and Molly emerged, no longer Disillusioned. She took one look at Harry and Ginny and shook her head at them, sighing.

"I should have known I couldn't trust you," she said.

"What do you mean?" asked Ginny, somewhat indignantly. "We stayed under the Cloak the whole time! Well, until the end, when it didn't matter anymore. So how can this be my fault? Or Harry's?"

"Not you two, the other Harry and Ginny." Molly looked at Harry. "Given what I just witnessed, I have no idea how it took you until the end of Sixth Year to let my daughter know you fancied her."

"What do you mean?" Harry squirmed a bit under his mother-in-law's gaze.

"I mean," said Molly, "that it only took the younger two of you five minutes on a couple of broomsticks to start making googly eyes at each other and get all mushy about the thought of being able to take care of Lily and James! Neither of you even blinked when they screamed in your ears and put their sticky hands all over you and treated your bodies like their own personal jungle gyms. You even managed to make getting thrown up on look like . . . like . . . like some kind of foreplay!"

"Actually, I think for some couples, that is foreplay," commented Ginny dryly.

Her mother gave her a withering look.

"How in the name of Merlin's saggy shorts am I supposed to show this memory to the students at Hogwarts as an example of how difficult it is to be a teen parent, when your own two teenage selves seemed to enjoy themselves so much they practically started snogging each other in the middle of it! If everyone see this, they are all going to want to run out right away and get a couple of kids of their own — which, may I remind you, is definitely not the point of the sex education class I am supposed to teach."

Harry and Ginny both tried to look ashamed. They failed.

"And I certainly can't accuse Lily and James on being too easy on either of you — they were just wonderful — so natural!" Molly got all misty for a moment. "Although I am sorry that Jamie got sick. I certainly didn't mean for that to happen, although it was a nice touch. Is he feeling better?"

Harry and Ginny assured Molly that James was fine, and she picked up her rant where she had left off.

"I mean, really. Couldn't one of you at least have made a comment about how hard parenting is, or how you suddenly have a new respect for what Arthur and I go through? Oh, no, not the two of you, you had to have a blast flying the twins around on your brooms and then getting all sentimental about how much you loved them already! I'm surprised Harry didn't just get down on one knee and propose right there in the kitchen!"

"Mum!" protested Ginny. "Being with them meant a lot to Harry and me. I mean, the younger Harry and me."

Molly sighed. "I know, dear. And it really was rather sweet to watch, if I hadn't been thinking in the back of my mind that I could never show any part of it in my "Wait until Marriage" lecture. You two really were quite good, you know."

"Face it," said Harry cheekily. "Ginny and I were just meant for each other from the start, not to mention the fact that we are superior parents."

"Hmmphf," said Molly. "I assume you're all staying here tonight? If you'll excuse me, I need to go revise my lesson plan."

She left the room, muttering to herself that everything would have worked much better if she had chosen Rose and Hugo instead.

Harry grinned at his wife. "Oh, I hope she does send Rose and Hugo. Can you just imagine the look on your brother's face when he realizes that he is going to end up married to Hermione?"

Ginny giggled. "And I bet Hermione runs straight to some parenting manual to make sure she does absolutely everything by the book."

"They wouldn't last an hour," agreed Harry.

"If I remember correctly, that's what you said about me, Potter."

"Oh yeah, the bet. It seems to me that we tied, as neither of our alter-egos crashed and burned at the whole 'teen parent' thing."

"True, although, seeing as you were the one that got vomited on, I am willing to declare you the winner." Ginny smiled up at her husband and wrapped her arms around his neck. "You really were quite an extraordinary father, even at fifteen."

Harry gently touched his lips to hers. "And you were a spectacular mother. But you know, I don't think I want to win the bet. Suddenly the thought of not giving them baths or dealing with bedtimes for two weeks doesn't sound so appealing." He grinned at his wife. "I know you're already pregnant, but how about we go upstairs and practice for the next one?"

"Harry, I like the way your mind works, not to mention several other parts of your anatomy."

Harry took Ginny's hand and led her to the stairs. "Let's just check on the twins first, okay?"


End file.
